Opinion
-
Consumer Power Report #67
Opinion -Consumer Power Report, written by Greg Scandlen, director of Consumers for Health Care Choices at The Heartland Institute, is a weekly report summarizing recent developments on consumer-directed health care in the media, legislative, and regulatory -
States, Feds Look to Hike Minimum Wage
Opinion -The stage is set for 2007 to be a hot year in the debate over raising the minimum wage. In November 2006, voters in six states approved initiatives to increase their minimum wages. Illinois lawmakers approved a minimum wage hike in November. -
Pressure Grows to End Binding Arbitration with Government Unions
Opinion -People from coast to coast apparently are coming to realize the harm to taxpayers that can be caused by allowing binding arbitration with government employee unions. -
Illinois Law Causes Beer Battle
Opinion -Rigid state franchise laws may be to blame for Bell's Beer, a highly respected craft beer brewed in Kalamazoo, Michigan, disappearing from Illinois bar taps and stock shelves. -
New Tax Law Expands and Improves HSAs
Opinion -On December 20, President George W. -
Policy Experts Reject Proposal to List Polar Bears as Threatened
Opinion -U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne proposed on December 27 that polar bears be listed as a "threatened" species, not because their populations are currently in decline but because global warming may threaten them in the future. -
Congress OKs Energy Recovery in Central Gulf
Opinion -On the final day of its 2006 session, Congress approved legislation opening 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural gas recovery. -
Water Problems Real but Workable
Opinion -Healthy Waters Mike Magee, M.D. Pfizer, November 2005 160 pages, $19. -
State Action on Net Neutrality Invites Costly Lawsuits
Opinion -Having failed to muster support in Congress for regulating Internet transmission, proponents of so-called “network neutrality” are turning to state legislatures for action. -
Low-Tax States Cut Poverty Rates: Study
Opinion -Fiscally prudent states appear to be winning the war on poverty, according to a recent study by the Goldwater Institute, which found low-tax and low-spending states are more successful at reducing poverty than their high-tax, high-spending counterparts. -
Provo Municipal Broadband Stumbles as Others Have
Opinion -After only two years, the municipal broadband system in Provo, Utah has begun to show the pattern of losses and declining net asset value experienced by other cities that have mounted expensive fiber optic networking projects, according to a report -
Private Money, Tolls Roads Recommended to Reduce Atlanta Traffic Jams
Opinion -Atlanta needs a major rethinking and rewriting of its long-range transportation plan, including four major toll road projects that would significantly reduce the region's current and projected traffic congestion, according to a new Reason -
10 More States Offer Tax Break to Organ Donors
Opinion -Since 2004, when Wisconsin became the first state to offer residents an income tax break for donating an organ, 10 other states have adopted similar legislation: Georgia in 2004; Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Utah in 2005; and -
Airplane Tax Hurting Kentucky Economy, Critics Say
Opinion -A tax on tangible personal property that is being collected in only four Kentucky counties is harming the state's economy and holding down employment, according to a state senator and economic development advocates. -
Congress Being Pushed to Index Capital Gains Taxes for Inflation
Opinion -Just weeks before the Congressional recess, momentum was building in Congress to change the method for calculating capital gains taxes, by adjusting investors' gains for inflation. -
Data Mining Can’t Improve Security
Opinion -When the U.S. Department of Homeland Security put into effect its Automated Targeting System (ATS) in December, it added to a growing list of programs that use information about ordinary Americans to seek after terrorists. -
FCC Gives Franchise Reform a Boost
Opinion -While it lacks the power to create a national franchising process, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did its bit in December for competition and choice in cable and video services by voting to institute a 90-day “shot clock” for local approval -
Gulf Stream Will Not Shut Down, Science Magazines Admit
Opinion -Put away your snow shovels, ear muffs, and portable indoor heaters, scientists now say, because global warming will not trigger a new ice age after all. -
Healthy NY Now Offers HSA Option
Opinion -Working families of four in New York who earn less than $49,875 annually, and individuals earning less than $25,125, became eligible in January to enroll in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) as part of the -
In The News
Opinion -Senators Draft Wireless Tax Moratorium Bill Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) have introduced legislation that would impose a three-year moratorium on state and local governments adopting new taxes on wireless services. -
Michigan OKs More Video Service Competition
Opinion -After a year of bitter debate, the Michigan Legislature in December approved franchise reforms intended to increase competition in video services. -
Michigan Voters Reject Education Spending Mandate
Opinion -Michigan voters overwhelmingly rejected a November ballot measure that would have mandated annual increases in funding for public education, in large part because school employee pensions became a major issue. -
Most States Are Satisfied with Federal Mercury Standard
Opinion -Only 22 of the 50 states are considering mercury reduction plans more stringent than the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) enacted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). -
Patent Law Confuses Application with Invention
Opinion -In November, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of KSR v. Teleflex.
